The present invention is directed to a lottery ticket in which the play action game provides for the player to match pairs of adjacent play symbols in a first play area with corresponding adjacent symbols in a second play area. The player may win a prize if he or she matches a minimum number of adjacent play symbols in the second game area with the pairs of adjacent play symbols which are available to the player from the first play area.
Scratch-off lottery tickets are common in the lottery industry. Game data is covered by a scratch-off layer and when the scratch-off layer is removed, the game data is exposed. Once the scratch-off layer is removed, if the game symbols provide a certain pattern (e.g. three of the same symbol) the player may win a prize. Thus, the typical scratch-off lottery tickets require the player to remove the scratch-off layer and immediately determine what prize has been won.
It is desirable in the scratch-off lottery industry to provide lottery tickets which not only provide the opportunity to win a prize, but also provide the opportunity to play a game which adds to the value and entertainment of the lottery ticket itself. It would therefore be a significant advance in the scratch-off lottery industry to provide a lottery game which can be based on chance and provide the player an opportunity to play a game and the possibility of winning a valuable prize.
The present invention is generally directed to a lottery ticket having a first play area which includes pairs of adjacent play symbols. These adjacent pairs of play symbols may or may not appear in a second play area. If a pair of adjacent play symbols from the first play area is found in a second play area there is a match. If the player obtains a sufficient number of matches of symbols in the second play area from those available in the first play area, a prize may be won.
In a particular aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lottery ticket comprising a first play area comprising a preselected number of pairs of adjacent play symbols, and a second play area comprising a plurality of rows, each row comprising at least two regions with each region containing a play symbol. The player matches the pairs of symbols from the first play area with the same play symbols in adjacent regions of the second play area. A prize is won if the player completes a sufficient number of play symbols in the second play area such as, but not limited to, the completion of an entire row of play symbols or matches a sufficient number of play symbols from the first play area to the second play area. In one aspect of the present invention, the rows are comprised of horizontal and vertical rows wherein a prize may be won by the completion of at least one entire vertical or horizontal row of play symbols. In a further aspect of the invention, a prize may be won by obtaining a sufficient number of matched play symbols from the first play area to the second play area.
The lottery ticket of the present invention may provide a single first play area or may provide multiple first play areas. In the latter embodiment of the invention, the player tries to obtain more matches from the player""s preselected first play area than the number of matches obtained from the other first play areas.
In a still further aspect of the present invention the play area may be provided with one or more bonus regions which may contain a bonus play symbol which provides an automatic prize winning key symbol, a universal play symbol or the like.